I didn’t buy myiPhone 16 Prolast year with future versions of iOS in mind – mainly I was concerned with the aging battery in my iPhone 13, and upgrading to better cameras and display tech. But one of the benefits of upgrading any smartphone is continued access to new software, and with iOS 26, there’s a growing list of features that will only work if you own aniPhone 15 Proor later. That’s the cutoff forApple Intelligence, a suite of AI tools that’s been controversial so far – mostly because Apple has delayed promised features, like contextual awareness for Siri.
In the interim, there are several iOS 26 features that should make owners of newer iPhones happy. Some are relatively niche, but the ones I’m going to get into today could make a meaningful difference to you, depending on what your day-to-day existence looks like.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro
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1Visual Intelligence for screenshots
Search for anything, anytime
Effectively, this is Apple’s answer to Google’s Circle to Search for Android. When it premiered in iOS 18.2, Visual Intelligence was limited to whatever you could point your camera at, which was only occasionally useful. With iOS 26, it becomes an option whenever you take a screenshot, too – you can ask ChatGPT questions about what you’re seeing, and search on supported apps such as Google, Etsy, and Pinterest. If an image contains an obvious event such as a concert, the feature can detect it and suggest adding the day, time, and/or location to a Calendar entry. Expect to see a lot more flyers in your messages once iOS 26 becomes widespread.
This is Apple’s answer to Google’s Circle to Search for Android.
Visual Intelligence isn’t quite as convenient as Circle to Search, which can be triggered by long-pressing Android’s navigation handle at any time. But both tools let you trace specific objects to search, so the comparison is pretty apt.
What is Google Circle to Search and how does it work on Android?
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2Live Translation in first-party communications apps
Let’s hope it catches the subtleties
In another bid to catch up with Google, iOS 26 adds automatic translation to the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps. It was pretty impressive during Apple’sWWDC 2025keynote, though the company used pre-recorded (and presumably scripted) demonstrations. I’m curious to see how well it works in real-world conditions – translation apps often miss the nuances of context, like idioms. The results could be particularly entertaining in Quebec, where a lot of swear words are based on French Catholicism.
Speaking of which, language support is relatively limited to start with. TheMessagesapp supports English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. ThePhoneandFaceTimeapps work with English, French, German, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese, but only in one-on-one conversations. Even within these barriers, many dialects are being omitted – there’s no Québécois French or Mexican Spanish, for instance.
How to translate live conversations with Google Translate
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3Automatic order tracking in Apple Wallet
No more need for outside tools?
Apple has actually had an order tracking system in the iOS Wallet app for a few years, but until now, it required active participation on the part of merchants. This wasn’t very appealing to companies with their own tracking systems, or anyone preferring a platform-neutral option. Often, when I’m tracking packages, I’ll just use Shopify’s Shop app – I don’t have to worry about being on an Apple device just to find out how close a package is.
To simplify things, iOS 26 automatically scans for tracking details in your email threads. That, of course, may be a limitation in its own right, if it’s limited to the Apple Mail app and doesn’t support the likes of Outlook or Gmail. But who knows – for people with frequent deliveries, this could be an incentive to switch email clients.
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4Automatic Reminders suggestions and sorting
Remembering the things you forgot to remember
I’ve never had a huge need for to-do apps, since normally, anything that’s truly important to me has to be done right away or is impossible to forget. But even I make use of the iOS Reminders app occasionally, and some people seem to live and die by it. I get it, since it offloads some of the burden of remembering what your job, friends, and family need from you.
iOS 26 scans your email and Messages conversations for tasks you might want to add toReminders, including items you can add to a grocery shopping list. To organize things further, associated reminders are automatically sorted into sections within each list. I imagine both of these things are going to be extremely useful for Reminders diehards, since we’re often bombarded with a flood of communications every day. It’s easy to forget that you need to call someone back when you’re already late picking up your child from school.
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5Apple Intelligence in Shortcuts
An undiscovered country
The Shortcuts app may be the most underappreciated part of iOS. I don’t use it as much as I used to, but if you’re patient, you can build some pretty elaborate automations to simplify tasks – my “I’m driving home” routine is capable of texting my wife, getting Apple Maps directions, and loading an Apple Music playlist all through a single voice command. Chances are, if it’s baked into iOS, there’s a way of automating it via Shortcuts.
I’m interested in this not so much for what’s possible now, but rather what’s coming once Apple delivers on its original AI promises.
The iOS 26 version of the app enables Apple Intelligence actions, such as image generation or text summaries. In fact, I’m interested in this not so much for what’s possible now, but rather what’s coming once Apple delivers on its original AI promises.
I’d love to have a shortcut that automatically shuffles a specific Spotify playlist when it can tell I’m headed out on a group ride with my electric unicycle, for instance. The possibilities may be vast, even overwhelming for the average person – it’s a good thing people are sharing shortcut ideas online.
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